WHITSUNDAY.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a
rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting:
and there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat
upon each of them: and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Acts ii. 2,3.
WHEN God of old came down from Heaven,
In power and wrath he came;
Before his feet the clouds were riven,
Half darkness and half flame:
Around the trembling mountainÕs base
The prostrate people lay,
ConvincÕd of sin, but not of grace;
It was a dreadful day.
But when He came the second time,
He came in power and love,
Softer than gale at morning prime
HoverÕd his holy Dove.
The fires that rushÕd on Sinai down
In sudden torrents dread,
Now gently light, a glorious crown,
On every sainted head.
Like arrows went those lightnings forth,
WingÕd with the sinnerÕs doom,
But these, like tongues, oÕer all the earth
Proclaiming life to come:
And as on IsraelÕs awe-struck ear
The voice exceeding loud,
The trump, that angels quake to hear,
ThrillÕd from the deep, dark cloud,
So, when the Spirit of our God
Came down his flock to find,
A voice from heaven was heard abroad,
A rushing, mighty wind.
Nor doth the outward ear alone
At that high warning start;
Conscience gives back thÕ appalling tone;
'Tis echoed in the heart.
It fills the Church of God; it fills
The sinful world around;
Only in stubborn hearts and wills
No place for it is found.
To other strains our souls are set:
A giddy whirl of sin
Fills ear and brain, and will not let
HeavenÕs harmonies come in.
Come, Lord, come, Wisdom, Love, and Power,
Open our ears to hear;
Let us not miss thÕ accepted hour;
Save, Lord, by Love or Fear.